Sustained disruption across federal agencies and foreign aid programs continues as the year draws to a close, despite a few bright lights. Federal health agencies remain under strain amid leadership turnover and the CDC’s recent approval of changes to the vaccine schedule, while some quarters call for revoking COVID-19 vaccine authorizations. Vaccine safety has been further politicized, prompting alarm from current and former FDA and CDC officials. Environmental health also faced setbacks, with moves to abandon air-pollution rules and weaken reporting requirements for “forever chemicals.” Abroad, cuts to food security and foreign aid continued to reverberate with deadly consequences. Domestically, states have been threatened with the loss of Medicaid, SNAP, and other health funding over compliance disputes. Some states, like California, are stepping in to retain public health expertise and capacity. On a more positive note, the Development Finance Corporation is slated to nearly triple its investment capacity following the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act. Concurrently, the US State Department has begun posting global health vacancies, many of which mirror positions recently eliminated at USAID.
Resources
Advocacy and Mobilization
- Alliance members CUGH (here and here), DNDi, FHI 360 (here and here), For Our Health (here and here), Friends of the Global Fight (here and here), Gavi (here and here), Gilead Sciences, Global Health Corps (here and here), Global Health Council (here and here), Global Health Technologies Coalition (here and here), IDEO.org (here and here), Maya Health Alliance | Wuqu’ Kawoq, MedShare, Nexleaf Analytics (here and here), North Carolina Global Health Alliance (here and here), PATH (here and here), Pathfinder (here and here), Population Services International (here and here), Public Health Institute, ReSurge International, Seed Global Health (here and here), San Francisco Community Health Center (here and here), Stanford (here and here), UC Berkeley (here and here), UCGHI, UCSF (here and here), UNICEF (here and here), USA for UNFPA, and Vital Strategies (here and here) have spoken with the press or issued statements.
- Find and Contact Your Representatives: U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. Here is a list of key decision makers in Congress, their contact information, as well as sample language to consider.
Navigating the Legal Questions and Resources for Workers
- Humentum offers resources for navigating the foreign assistance pause.
- Connective Impact has launched an open-source resource document in response to the U.S. foreign aid policy shifts.
- Devex has summarized 5 rapid response funds for organizations affected by the US aid freeze.
- Just Security has a Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions.
- Tech Change is sharing a job board and resource curation for those impacted.
- Other job opportunities sites include: Philanthropy News Digest, Idealist.org, WorkforGOOD, FastForward, Reconsidered, The Impact Job, ExecSearches.com, and Foundationlist.org.
- Find a Job I Devex
- Nonprofit Jobs | Work for Good
- The Pivot Playbook
- Find and Fund Defunded Global Health Grants: database of defunded NIH global health research projects seeking support
- Founders Pledge: Nonprofit organization that works to bridge the gap between entrepreneurs and charities making impact in the world
- Fired but Fighting, a Coalition of Fired HHS Employees and Allies
Tracking Impact
- The Impact Metrics Dashboard (Boston University) visualizes the human impact of funding changes for aid and support organizations. The site has an impact tracker for PEPFAR, tuberculosis (TB), and Medicaid and is looking for additional collaborators. Read more.
- GHTC tracks how US investments in global health R&D are paying economic and health dividends in each state. (Learn more)
- Also see Center for Global Development I How Many Lives Does US Foreign Aid Save?
- KFF has a new series of fact sheets on the status of U.S. global health aid cuts, from maternal and child health to TB and malaria, and fact sheets on global health program impact.
- KFF also has an overview of President Trump’s executive actions on global health and a timeline of events that provides a detailed overview of actions (and counter-actions) related to the administration’s efforts to freeze all U.S. foreign aid and dissolve USAID.
- Grant Watch’s Weekly Terminated NIH Grants Report presents an overview of recent trends in NIH grant terminations, reinstatements, new grant initiations, and continuations.
- An overview of the last 30 days of what has happened to public health and a running list of actions by the Trump administration to undermine public health. [Jessica Knurick]
- Emory Rollins Public Health has shared data showing the impact of public health cuts.
- Devex Court Watch: The latest on the USAID docket
- Devex ‘The Trump Effect’, highlighting the latest news, in-depth analysis, and exclusive insights on how the Trump administration’s policies are reshaping global development.
- Gates Foundation I Health Aid Saves Lives. Don’t Cut It, provides an aggregation of US aid cut impacts
- ProPublica I Gutted: How Deeply Trump Has Cut Federal Health Agencies
- Verified and Vetted Science Accounts to Start Following for Public Health Accuracy [Cate Russel]
- State of Disunion: The Impact of Us Funding Cuts on Global Health R&D
- NEJM I Health and Medical Research Funding in a Divided America — How to Increase Support
- STAT+ | Tracking RFK Jr.’s Promises to Remake Health in America
Sources
December 18, 2025
- STAT | Opinion: What I’ve Learned by Mapping the Impacts of NIH Cuts
- STAT | Stanford, UCSF: As Dangerous Eugenic Ideas Spread, NIH Falls Silent
December 17, 2025
- ProPublica | Inside the Trump Administration’s Man-Made Hunger Crisis
- STAT | Amid Talk of a Brain Drain, Some Scientists Leave US Behind
- STAT | RFK Jr., Unconstrained by Congress, Presses Ahead to Reshape Health Care
- The Hill | House Passes GOP Health Care Bill Without Obamacare Subsidy Extension
- Washington Post | American Academy of Pediatrics Loses HHS Funding after Criticizing RFK Jr.
December 16, 2025
- HHS | Secretary Kennedy Adds Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Metachromatic Leukodystrophy to Newborn Screenings
- Health Policy Watch | Near Unanimous Adoption of UN Declaration on NCDs and Mental Health – Only US and Argentina Opposed
- Reuters | Trump’s Top Aide Criticizes How USAID Was Dismantled in Vanity Fair Interview
- Devex | State Department Scrambles to Rebuild Foreign Aid Workforce
- STAT+ | Former NIH leader Jeanne Marrazzo Sues Administration Over Termination
- STAT | CDC Approves New Hepatitis B Vaccine Recommendation as Some Hospitals Reject Changes
- Wired | New Head of Trump’s Cancer Panel Speculated About Links Between Vaccines and Cancer
- STAT | Two Rare Diseases Added to Newborn Screening Recommendations
- Devex Invested | DFC Gets a Long-Awaited Glow-up
December 15, 2025
- ProPublica | Trump Officials Celebrated With Cake After Slashing Aid. Then People Died of Cholera.
- New York Times | California Hires Former C.D.C. Officials Who Criticized Trump Administration
- Devex Pro | Gilead, UNICEF: 24 Weeks, $4.7 Billion Spent: How Aid Has Slowed Under Trump
- STAT | Experts Assess Trump’s Declaration of Fentanyl as Weapon of Mass Destruction
- Reuters | FDA Has No Plans to Put Most Serious Warning on COVID Vaccines
- Science | NSF Pares Down Grant-Review Process, Reducing Influence of Outside Scientists
- CIDRAP | Racially Charged Language on Mothers and Babies Taints Vaccine Advisory Meeting
- Devex | How US Aid Obligations Fell by 65% in 2025
- Nature | Grant Cuts, Arrests, Lay-Offs: Trump Made 2025 a Tumultuous Year for Science
December 12, 2025
- MedPage Today | Pfizer: RFK Jr.’s Former Group Urges FDA to Revoke COVID Vax Licenses
- CNN | Pfizer: FDA Intends to Put Its Most Serious Warning on COVID Vaccines, Sources Say
December 11, 2025
- Axios | Calls to Pull COVID Vaccines Get Louder
- TechPolicy.Press | America Needs Better AI Ambitions
- Inside Medicine | Pfizer: FDA Vaccine Chief’s Memo Cited 10 Pediatric COVID-19 Vaccine Deaths—But the Agency’s Own Analysis Found 0–7.
- STAT+ | FDA Staff Fear Tracy Beth Høeg Will Bring Bias and Instability to Embattled Drug Center
- New York Times | U.S. Helped to Weaken Report at U.N. Environment Talks, Participants Say
December 10, 2025
December 9, 2025
- Washington Post | FDA to Investigate Whether Adult Deaths Linked to Coronavirus Vaccine
- The Guardian | US Civic Health Rating Downgraded After Year of ‘Restrictive’ Trump Actions
- KFF Health News | Rural Health Providers Could Be Collateral Damage From $100K Trump Visa Fee
December 8, 2025
December 5, 2025
- New York Times | Panel Votes to End Recommendation for Hepatitis B Shots for All Newborns
- Devex | State Department Ends Support for Some Food Security Programs
December 4, 2025
- Axios | FDA Reaches “Tipping Point” After High-Level Departures
- STAT+ | American Science, Shattered Series
- NBC News | FDA Chief Says Biden Administration Withheld Data on Heart Risk From COVID Vaccines
- New York Times | Kennedy’s Methodical 2-Decade Quest to Dismantle Vaccine Policy
- KFF Health News | Republicans Left Tribes Out of Their $50B Rural Fund. Now It’s Up to States To Share.
December 3, 2025
- STAT | Opinion: CDC’s Vaccine Advisory Panel Faces a Crisis of Its Own Making
- Axios | MAHA World Is Thrilled With RFK Jr.’s Latest Vaccine Changes
- Washington Post | A Dozen Former FDA Commissioners Condemn Plan to Tighten Vaccine Approvals
- New York Magazine | Doughnuts & Bullets: The Agony & Absurdity of Working for RFK Jr.
- STAT+ | FDA Removes Longtime Over-The-Counter Drugs Regulator From Her Position
- STAT+ | Tracy Beth Høeg, Makary Aide Who Investigated COVID Vaccines, to Lead FDA Drug Center
- Devex | Where Do the USAID Legal Battles Stand?
- Politico | Trump Is Taking 3 Steps Backward in the AI Race
December 2, 2025
- Axios | Health Workers Sound Alarm on Trump Loan Caps
- AP News | Trump Administration Threatens to Withhold SNAP Management Funds From States That Don’t Share Data
- KFF Health News | Feds Promised ‘Radical Transparency’ but Are Withholding Rural Health Fund Applications
- The Guardian | Judge Blocks Trump From Cutting Medicaid Funds for Planned Parenthood in 22 States
- New York Times | The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science and Medicine
November 30, 2025
November 28, 2025
November 26, 2025
- STAT | In Medicare Drug Negotiations, Trump Administration Embraces a Policy the GOP Once Despised
- New York Times | Trump Administration Will No Longer Commemorate World AIDS Day
November 25, 2025
- STAT+ | Federal Biotech Commission Calls for Retooling of Scientific Research Infrastructure
- Washington Post | Louisiana Health Official Who Halted State Vaccine Campaign Tapped as CDC’s No. 2
- Washington Post | EPA to Abandon Air Pollution Rule That Would Prevent Thousands of US Deaths
November 24, 2025
- Inside Medicine | The New #2 at CDC Is a Top Ivermectin Prescriber Who Ended Louisiana’s Vaccine-Promotion Media Campaigns.
- Forbes | DOJ Tries To Block Musk Deposition In Lawsuit Over USAID Cuts
- Science | NIH Shake-up to Grant Decision-Making Sparks Concern Over Political Meddling
November 23, 2025
November 21, 2025
- KFF Health News | US Cancer Registries, Constrained by Trump Policies, To Recognize Only ‘Male’ or ‘Female’ Patients
- Devex | Ex-Top USAID Official Details Wish List on Health and Funding Fixes
- Politico | The White House Has Asked for the Resignation of a Top Aide to FDA Chief
- STAT+ | CDC Moves to End Telework for Employees, Including Those With Medical Needs
November 20, 2025
- Axios | Changes to COVID Shot Guidance Didn’t Sway Public: Survey
- Devex | MCC Finalizes Country Program Cuts, Narrowing Prior Proposed List
- STAT+ | Under RFK Jr., CDC Reverses Course on Stance That Vaccines Don’t Cause Autism
November 19, 2025
- KFF Health News | Stanford: A Small Texas Think Tank Cultivated Covid Dissidents. Now They’re Running US Health Policy.
- Washington Post | CDC in Turmoil After Agency Backpedals on Debunking Vaccines-Autism Link
- Politico | RFK Jr. Is in a Power Struggle
November 18, 2025
- Axios | NIH Cuts Impacted 74,000 Clinical Trial Patients: Study
- STAT+ | Stanford: How RFK Jr., America’s Celebrity Health Secretary, Is Steamrolling Science
- NPR | Gilead: A ‘Breakthrough’ Drug to Prevent HIV, an ‘Unprecedented’ Rollout
November 17, 2025
November 16, 2025
November 15, 2025
November 14, 2025
- STAT | NIH Abruptly Places Outspoken Critic of Trump Administration on Leave
- The 19th | The U.S. Wants Healthier Children. So Why Is It Scaling Back Its Nutrition Programs?
November 13, 2025
November 12, 2025
November 10, 2025
- NOTUS | MAHA’s Gone Viral. Can Science?
- Axios | UC Berkeley | UCSF: Calif. Leaders Propose $23B Plan to Protect Science Research
- Brennan Center for Justice | Harms of the Federal Funding Freeze on Science: Q&A with Former White House Science Adviser Arati Prabakhar
November 7, 2025
- MedPage Today | CDC Vaccine Panel Workgroups Question Their Fate
- KFF Health News | Wielding Obscure Budget Tools, Trump’s ‘Reaper’ Vought Sows Turmoil in Public Health
November 5, 2025
November 4, 2025
November 3, 2025